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Monday, July 02, 2007

It has been a while since I last updated. I can't believe July is already here and that I'll be going back to Melbourne in 12 days. Feel quite sad about that, but I need to finish my first year!

Nothing much has happened recently. My life has just been revolving around this "nice" stack of notes sitting on my table; all because some pansies didn't think that the faculty was adhering to university policy by not giving us 7 days or more to study for the exam. In retrospect, maybe it was a blessing in disguise, since I probably would have failed that exam if it was on the same day.

The biggest (and most insulting) thing that happened to me was when I went out with shu for a mini shopping trip. We were walking along Orchard minding our own business, when all of a sudden, this lady approached the 2 of us and asked us to help her do a survey. We both thought it was a harmless survey, and hence agreed to do it. This is the dialogue that ensued:

Lady: What is your name?
Me: Iris.
Lady: Ok and what is your age?
Me: 20.
Lady: Ok and what is your height?
Me: -alarm bells start going off in my head- 161cm
Lady: Ok that's nice. Follow me please.
-Lady leads me over to this area with what appears to be electronic weighing scales along the side of the pavement-
Me: -wild gestures- no no no no no
Lady: Please help me, I mean you've already finished half of it!
Me: -after a long pause- ok fine

Of course it didn't help that I had just finished lunch AND that I didn't crap in about 2 days. So she takes my weight and some other random information pops up on the display and she writes all the values down onto some paper and goes through it with me and gives me advice on how I should manage my weight and diet.

Lady: You see, your weight is **kg. The ideal weight for you is 47kg. That would be normal. What was the lightest that you have been?
Me: -feeling slightly insulted and thinking how malnourished and emaciated I would look at 47kg- 50kg.
Lady: Ah and so what do you normally eat?
Me: Rice.
Lady: Oh that's not good! You should cut down on rice. You know a normal rice bowl? Eat half that bowl and eat more fruits and vegetables. Like that, you should be able to go down to 47kg.
Me: -thinking that that is absolutely impossible- ah ok.
Lady: and I see that you're sharing ice cream with your friend. Try to cut down on that kind of stuff too. It's all very fattening and not good for you. Once in a while is ok.
Me: -getting more irritated- ah, yes. ok.
Lady: and the percentage of water in your body is quite low. How much do you drink a day?
Me: about a litre only I think
Lady: ah that's not enough. Drink more water, then you can eat less also. How often do you go to the toilet?
Me: (I wonder what that had to do with anything) -this is excess information-

So yes, she continues to advise me and what I should do, constantly not-so-subtly hinting that I should do this and that, and I would be well on my way to achieving my "ideal" weight of 47 kg. and the punchline:

Lady: -looks at me closely- I see that you have a lot of pimples on your face. Are they new or have they been there for a while?
Me: -feeling extremely annoyed- depends on which ones you're looking at. Some are marks, some are new.
Lady: Ah I see. Hm. You should drink more water. How about your hormones? Is your period coming soon?

I was so annoyed by this point in time. I told her and she started showing me pictures of herself when she was younger and 7 kilos heavier with many pimples on her face, and she started to promote some organisation to me (I can't remember the name) and was telling me what a miracle it was. Then she showed me some slimming shake that she was taking and started telling me about how effective it was and whether I wanted to try it out. My memory is clouded by my irritation. I think this company really has do something about its employees' PR skills.

I was having a conversation with Paulee one night about people's looks and he asked me whether I ever got sick of my own image, since I see it every single day. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Why would I be sick of my own image?
Paulee: Well, you see it every single day and every time you look into the mirror. Wouldn't you get tired of it?
Me: No. Would you?
Paulee: Think about it, you will be sick of your own image because you get so tired of seeing the same person over and over again. Eventually, the only people who would think that you are good-looking are other people. Hence we can only draw one conclusion.
Me: What conclusion is that?
Paulee: That it doesn't really matter what you think about yourself. It's what other people think of you that is important.
-stunned silence from me-
Me: I feel sorry for your children.
Paulee: Why would you say that? Doesn't it make sense?
Me: Think about it. Think about all that you have learned in the past 20 years.

So I proceeded to explain why his theory was completely warped and he realised it after some time. It was quite a hilarious moment though.

I need to upload photos, but I'll do that another day, quite soon before I go back! For now, back to mugging mugging. Take care and God bless.

12:14 AM